The story of Ayyub (Job)

You remember the story of the prophet Ishaq (عليه السلام), we said that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave him two boys. The first was called Al-'Īs (Esau), he is the father of the Romans, they were twins and the second was called Ya'qub (Jacob) (عليه السلام).

From the descendants of Al-'Īs, there was a man named Ayyub (Job) (عليه السلام). Ayyub (عليه السلام) comes from the descendants of Ibrahim (عليه السلام). We mentioned that all the prophets after Ibrahim (عليه السلام) came from his descendants.

The story of Ayyub is a great story. Each of us, when he pronounces the name Ayyub, pronounces the word patience. Patience and Ayyub (عليه السلام) are two words that go together.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) granted blessings to this prophet, but He also put him to the test. No man has endured what Ayyub went through. Allah (عز وجل) gave him plenty of blessings, farms, riches and harvests. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave him much money and wealth, plantations, fruits, trees... Ayyub was a rich man. Allah (عز وجل) gave him a pious wife. He had many servants. People saw Ayyub as a prophet and a rich man. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave him fourteen boys and girls.

Look at all these blessings! What more could man want than that?! A beautiful country, a Lord Great Forgiver, he is a prophet, with a pious wife and boys and girls, possessions, farms, servants, and on top of that, he did good. What favors Ayyub (عليه السلام) had!

Authentic Sources

Video by Sheikh Nabil Al-Awadi

Suddenly, the trials began. In this story, we will speak of what this prophet went through in terms of trials and how Ayyub reacted.

A great affliction. This prophet went through afflictions such as no prophet has ever known. The affliction began with an illness that took hold of his body and forced him to stay in bed. He began to lose his children one by one. He lost all his money and his wealth. Where are the farms and the harvests? Everything burned.

Glory be to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى)! How can a person lose everything in an instant. Even his servants abandoned him one by one. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tested this prophet; what was the story of this trial? And how did this prophet react to this affliction? Ayyub was prepared for this kind of trial because he is a prophet, what will happen? In his heart, he knows that there are trials of faith. Does man believe he can be a believer without the Lord (سبحانه وتعالى) testing him?! The trial of faith is necessary, even if the person is a prophet.

Illness struck Ayyub, he stayed in bed, he could no longer move his body except his tongue, his tongue which invoked Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). What an affliction! At every moment, he learned of the death of one of his children. If one of us loses a child, he will not bear it. So what would it be like if all the children die one after the other. To be sick in bed, and every day he learns of the death of one of his children until all his children died. Fourteen boys and girls, not even a single one remained. His money, he lost it too, nothing remained for him in this worldly life except his wife who still served him; his wife who brought him food.

وَلَنَبْلُوَنَّكُم بِشَيْءٍ مِّنَ الْخَوْفِ وَالْجُوعِ وَنَقْصٍ مِّنَ الْأَمْوَالِ وَالْأَنفُسِ وَالثَّمَرَاتِ ۗ وَبَشِّرِ الصَّابِرِينَ

And We will surely test you with something of fear and hunger and a loss of wealth and lives and fruits, but give good tidings to the patient,

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:155)

Authentic Sources

Quran: Surah Al-Baqarah, Video by Sheikh Nabil Al-Awadi

He lost all his wealth after having been rich; if a person is poor to begin with, the trial will be less hard, but if the person is rich and powerful, and he loses all of that. For how many years did he stay in bed? For 18 years, he remained in this situation, but what patience Ayyub had! We, our children, and all that we possess. We belong to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), so why despair. Ayyub gave the best example of patience, he always invoked Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). He was an enduring and patient man and prophet. He never said "uff", he never lost hope.

His wife worked in people's homes for a few dirhams and she bought food to feed Ayyub. This wife who had been rich all her life with her children around her with servants and wealth, here she is now working in people's homes. One day this pious woman came to Ayyub and said: "O Ayyub, you are a prophet to whom Allah will respond, invoke Allah so that He may heal you". Ayyub looked at her and said: "O fulana, how long was I sound and in good health before?" She replied: "For 70 years, you fell ill at 70 years old". He said: "Allah granted me the favor of being in good health for 70 years, should I not bear the illness for another period of 70 years?"

What endurance Ayyub had! His body crumbled away on the bed, his relatives and his friends abandoned him, no one remained by his side; people were afraid of being contaminated so they no longer approached him. This illness caused his body to crumble away, the flesh fell off, and an odor came out, people no longer approached him. Imagine someone who falls ill, and who remains so for one or two weeks, surely he will grow weary of it; whereas here it is 18 years, and in addition he lost all his children and his possessions.

His wife went to work in houses to bring back food for Ayyub but she kept being turned away. She was turned away, people did not want to let her work, she was forbidden from coming near. For what reason?! How will she feed him? What will Ayyub eat? What will she do, this pious woman? In their time, braids of hair could be sold, so she cut off a piece, and she sold it for a few dirhams. She bought food with these dirhams then she brought it back to Ayyub.

Who could imagine such a trial?! One that lasts not one day, nor two, nor a year or two but for 18 years. 18 years on the bed and his wife works in people's homes after having been rich. She became a servant, whereas she used to be served. He lost all his children. Where is it, this house that was full of boys and girls! Where are these children whom Ayyub wanted to see grow up! What happened? What came to pass? Where are the possessions? Where are the servants?

Whoever is patient, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) will certainly deliver him. But this trial was hard and long. For 18 years, he remained sick on the bed. What a trial! How was he able to endure all that? How can a man lose his children, one after the other, and lose all his wealth, then never leave his sickbed. Such was the trial that Ayyub went through and such were his patience and his endurance.

الَّذِينَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُم مُّصِيبَةٌ قَالُوا إِنَّا لِلَّهِ وَإِنَّا إِلَيْهِ رَاجِعُونَ ۝ أُولَٰئِكَ عَلَيْهِمْ صَلَوَاتٌ مِّن رَّبِّهِمْ وَرَحْمَةٌ ۖ وَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُهْتَدُونَ

but give good tidings to the patient, Who, when disaster strikes them, say, "Indeed we belong to Allah, and indeed to Him we will return." Those are the ones upon whom are blessings from their Lord and mercy. And it is those who are the [rightly] guided.

Surah Al-Baqarah (2:155-157)

Authentic Sources

Quran: Surah Al-Baqarah, Video by Sheikh Nabil Al-Awadi

Ayyub knew that people had turned her away from work. So Ayyub said to her: "Did you not tell me that people had turned you away?" "Yes O prophet of Allah, she replied, take the food and I will tell you". Ayyub said: "No, by Allah I will not eat, tell me what happened, how did you get the food?" She said: "Eat O prophet of Allah, you are hungry, you are weak, and you are sick". Ayyub said: "I will not eat until after you have told me". His wife was a truthful woman. She said: "I cut my hair and sold it" and she removed her veil.

Ayyub saw that his wife had cut her hair to feed him. At that moment, the situation reached the critical point. There, Ayyub will reach the highest degree of endurance. He invoked his Lord saying: "Adversity has touched me. But You, you are the most merciful of the merciful!"

In his invocation, he did not complain, he did not make a specific request, he simply said: "Adversity has touched me. But You, you are the most merciful of the merciful!" Ayyub endured for long years, but when he saw what had happened to his wife, he invoked Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), he declared his concern to Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). Indeed the prophets are the most touched by trials, then the others, each according to the degree of his religion.

Ayyub had two brothers. One day, they came to him while he was sick in bed. The situation had worsened but they could not approach him because of his repugnant odor. One of the two said to the other, while Ayyub was listening to them: "Allah has seen that Ayyub committed a great sin, that is why He sent him this trial". Alas, Ayyub heard them, so he turned to his Lord, invoking: "O Allah! If you know that I have never spent a night sated if I had known that there was a single hungry person that night, then approve me". Then Allah (عز وجل) confirmed his truthfulness and his two brothers heard it. Then he said: "O Allah! If You know that I have never worn a shirt if I knew that there were people without clothes, then approve me". Then Allah (عز وجل) confirmed his truthfulness.

One day, he was at home lying on the bed, there, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) revealed to Ayyub. O Ayyub, the deliverance is going to begin. The moment Ayyub had been waiting for for years is going to begin. Now the deliverance will begin. "Move your feet O Ayyub!" Ayyub struck the ground with his feet, and suddenly cool water began to flow.

ارْكُضْ بِرِجْلِكَ ۖ هَٰذَا مُغْتَسَلٌ بَارِدٌ وَشَرَابٌ

[So he was told], "Strike [the ground] with your foot; this is a [spring for] a cool bath and drink."

Surah Sad (38:42)

Authentic Sources

Quran: Surah Sad, Video by Sheikh Nabil Al-Awadi

The water began to flow beneath Ayyub's feet in the house. The blessed water began to flow in abundance. "O Ayyub, wash yourself with this water". When Ayyub washed himself with the water, the illness began to disappear. "O Ayyub, drink of this water". Ayyub drank, and all his internal illnesses disappeared.

Ayyub drank of this water, and the illness of 18 years disappeared in a few moments. The healing came down from our Lord (سبحانه وتعالى), Ayyub began to move. And you know what? Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) restored to Ayyub his health, and even his youth. Ayyub became young once again, his beauty and his strength returned. All at once he got up and began to walk. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is The Greatest. How the trial was dispelled.

His wife came home looking for him in the bed, but she did not find him. "Where is my husband? Who took him? Did an animal eat him? Or did thieves carry him off?" She began to search the house but she found a strong and handsome young man who looks like Ayyub.

She asked: "O fulan, have you not seen the tried prophet of Allah? By Allah you look very much like him!" Ayyub smiled and said: "I am Ayyub, I am your husband". "Are you mocking me O fulan!" replied the wife. "Are you mocking me O servant of Allah! I am asking you about the tried prophet of Allah, and you claim to be him!" Ayyub said: "By Allah, it is me O fulana, I am Ayyub". Then she saw that he looks like Ayyub when he was young and she wept for joy, saying: "How did this happen? Who healed you?" He said: "It is Allah".

And not only that, he invokes Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) and his wife, who was old, became young and beautiful again by the grace of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى). O Allah! The trial begins to dissipate, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) rewarded the endurance and the patience of Ayyub. Allah (عز وجل) restored youth and beauty to Ayyub and to his wife, and after that! Look how the deliverance continues. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) gave him boys and girls similar to those who had died and not only that! His gardens that had burned, his riches that had been lost, and his servants who had gone. Allah (عز وجل) gave everything back to him again, even gold fell from the sky upon him like locusts and Ayyub gathered it up. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) then said: "O Ayyub! Have I not given you enough of what you are gathering?" Ayyub said: "Yes my Lord, but I can never do without Your Blessing."

But there remained the promise that Ayyub had made. He had sworn that when Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) healed him, he would strike his wife 100 blows. Now he must keep his promise. How will Ayyub do it? Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) revealed to him: "take 100 twigs and tie them together and strike your wife a single time lightly, thus you will honor your oath."

Such was Ayyub, he endured, and Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) delivered him. The trial lasted 18 years, people abandoned him, relatives and friends accused him. But there came the deliverance that Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) has joined to endurance.

The story of Ayyub (عليه السلام) has become for all humanity the supreme example of patience (sabr) in the face of trials. Each of us, when he pronounces the name Ayyub (عليه السلام), pronounces the word patience. Patience and Ayyub (عليه السلام) are two words that go together.

وَخُذْ بِيَدِكَ ضِغْثًا فَاضْرِب بِّهِ وَلَا تَحْنَثْ ۗ إِنَّا وَجَدْنَاهُ صَابِرًا ۚ نِّعْمَ الْعَبْدُ ۖ إِنَّهُ أَوَّابٌ

[We said], "And take in your hand a bunch [of grass] and strike with it and do not break your oath." Indeed, We found him patient, an excellent servant. Indeed, he was one repeatedly turning back [to Allah].

Surah Sad (38:44)

Authentic Sources

Quran: Surahs Al-Anbiya and Sad, Video by Sheikh Nabil Al-Awadi